From trash to traffic, these 5 charts show how COVID-19 has changed Metro Vancouver

There's no question that COVID-19 has uprooted the lives of people across Metro Vancouver and around the world. Data can be one way to show how, exactly, the pandemic has changed the way we move and operate in our daily lives.  

Here are a few key ways Metro Vancouver has changed in the past few weeks. The following charts compare data from April 2020 to the same time last year. 

Crime

We know that commercial break-ins are way up compared to this time last year, in part because so many businesses are closed. But did you know that thefts from vehicles are down by a third? And vehicle collisions, including those involving pedestrians, are down nearly 70 per cent. 

Interestingly, data from the Victoria Police Department shows a few differences in the same categories. There, theft from vehicles has increased and mischief has risen by 40 per cent.

Businesses

The province says B.C. lost nearly 400,000 jobs in March and April. Nearly half of those jobs were in food service and retail, and those statistics don't include those who stopped seeking work.

According to business licence data from the City of Vancouver, fewer licences were requested and/or approved in April for offices, contractors (mostly related to construction and renovations) and short-term accommodation rentals.

Garbage

Metro Vancouver has reported a big drop in garbage during the pandemic.

Although single family homes are producing more garbage compared to last year, garbage from commercial account holders — which includes businesses and multi-family developments like condos — has dropped, creating a decrease overall. 

Transportation

Traffic is down by nearly half in some sections of the Lower Mainland, presumably as more people stay home to self-isolate and/or work from home. 

The City of Vancouver wasn't able to provide raw data but is reporting similar numbers in vehicular traffic. The city says bicycle traffic along commuter routes like 10th Avenue has dropped, but recreational routes like the seawall have seen as much as a 66 per cent rise in bike traffic compared to this time last year. 

TransLink also wasn't able to provide raw data, but says boardings on buses, SkyTrain, SeaBus and West Coast Express in April dropped by 82 per cent compared to last year. 

Other: Energy use

Neither BC Hydro nor FortisBC were able to provide raw data from April in time for this story, but both report that commercial and industrial energy use has dropped while residential use has increased. 

BC Hydro says peak energy usage at homes has changed from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. to later in the morning, and earlier in the evening. In the last two weeks of March, residential electricity consumption was approximately nine per cent higher compared to same time last year.

Meanwhile, average daily electricity load from some commercial sectors has declined by up to 30 per cent. Spokesperson Kevin Aquino says commercial electricity consumption overall was down about 13 per cent in the first two weeks of April compared to the three-year average for this time of year.